Health

Dr. John Hellerstedt will be the next commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, state officials announced Monday.

Hellerstedt is the current chief medical officer of the Seton Family of Hospitals in Central Texas. He is a former medical director for the Medicaid CHIP Division at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, according to his online bio.

Researchers are in Austin this week for the International Conference on Neural Tube Defects. It coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act — a law that led to the U.S. government acknowledging a link between folic acid deficiency during pregnancy and neural tube defects, like spina bifida.

The law also led to mandatory enrichment of certain foods with folic acid, but not all foods — particularly, tortillas.

When California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law legalizing doctor-assisted suicide, with 38.8 million people, the state became the most populous one to do so. What does the law mean for the residents of California? With now five states taking these steps, what will it mean for the rest of the country?